Landman Season 3 is officially happening, and under normal circumstances, that would call for champagne. Instead, it feels more like the show has been handed an extension and quietly reminded not to squander it. As a fan who rooted for Landman from the jump, defended it in comment sections, I’m saying this with affection, not a pitchfork. Landman Season 2 didn’t scare critics away. The Rotten Tomatoes score barely moved, staying in the high 70s, while critics kept tipping their hats to the show’s no-holds-barred take on moral trade-offs in the oil world. Audiences, however, were far less forgiving, slapping it with a current 42% score. And to me, that disconnect matters.
Why Did Fans Start Shifting in Their Seats
The bottom line is that critics stayed seated, while fans started eyeing the exit and their watches. Billy Bob Thornton‘s Tommy Norris remains the backbone of the series. If you’ve ever met a real landman, you already know this guy, or at least someone who looks, sounds, and carries himself exactly like him. Thornton plays Tommy with restraint, never winking at the camera or leaning into caricature. Even when he’s furious, there’s control under the surface, and that grounded performance is still the show’s strongest asset. The audience score didn’t slide because of Tommy. It slid because everything around him feels inconsistent, like a house with a solid foundation but unfinished rooms.
Cami Miller Was a Smart Promotion and a Rare Win
Let’s give Demi Moore her flowers, because promoting Cami Miller from background presence to full-fledged power broker was overdue and undeniably effective. Following Monty’s death, Cami steps into a room full of oil and banking executives to announce her active control of M-Tex. Before she even reaches the podium, she’s dismissed and age-shamed by younger women in the bathroom who assume she’s there looking for a rich husband. Moments later, she shocks the room by making it clear she won’t soften Monty’s legacy. If anything, she plans to sharpen it. Later, when shareholders argue that Monty’s contracts died with him, Tommy calmly invites them to sue. That entire sequence works because it’s focused and purposeful, with no fat to trim; Landman is at its best when it lets power shift hands rather than going nowhere fast.
Angela and Ainsley Are the Weight Dragging the Show Down
Now for the uncomfortable part that fans have been muttering about since Landman Season 1. Viewers like Tommy, tolerate Cooper, and groan when Angela and Ainsley enter the frame. Angela Norris is written as chaos without consequence: furious one moment, seductive the next, then destructive, all without adding up to anything meaningful. She throws plates, lashes out, and creates havoc, but the behavior never leads to growth, reflection, or even a clear point. I find it really noisy without melody. Ainsley feels like she wandered in from a different series altogether; her storylines start, stall, and disappear.
A boyfriend shows up and vanishes into thin air, and a bonding moment with Tommy lands before slipping right through the cracks. Her arc feels less like a journey and more like loose change rattling in a pocket. I think flawed characters aren’t the problem, but stagnant ones are.
Landman Season 3 Needs to Decide What Kind of Show This Is
At some point, Landman has to pick a lane. Many fans want the show to lean harder into the business side, and that’s not an unreasonable request. Succession and Billions proved long ago that boardrooms, contracts, and financial warfare can be just as gripping as shootouts when treated seriously. In those shows, money wasn’t background decoration; it was the engine driving every decision. Landman is strongest when it commits to the oil business. The emergency calls in the dead of night, the meetings where someone is quietly sacrificed, and the legal threats dressed up as polite emails…that’s the good stuff. Instead, Landman Season 2 spends too much time orbiting Angela’s dissatisfaction like a dog chasing its tail. Family drama works when it’s going somewhere, but when it isn’t, it just sits there like dead weight.
How Season 3 Can Fix the Problem Without Starting from Scratch
The good news is that Landman doesn’t need a full rebuild; it needs sharper instincts. Angela and Ainsley need real agency, depth, and consequences, because right now they’re just spinning their wheels. If Angela is going to stay abrasive, make her formidable rather than volatile, someone who knows how to twist the knife instead of flailing. Think Carmela Soprano or Skyler White, women who turned domestic power into leverage. And if Ainsley stays reckless, that recklessness needs a destination: addiction, crime, or a secret big enough to crack the family’s foundation.
Give their choices some bite, because drama without consequences is all bark and no bite. Tommy cannot remain the only load-bearing wall. Cami Miller’s rise proves that empowered supporting characters elevate the show. Taylor Sheridan has already shown he can write this level of complexity. So the blueprint is sitting right there. The business arcs mostly work, with Andrew Lockington’s score humming beneath negotiations that still crackle with tension, and pacing that holds steady more often than it stumbles. Landman may not reinvent the wheel, but when it commits, it knows exactly how to make that wheel spin.
Landman Is Still Worth Betting On, for Now
Landman isn’t a lost cause, not yet. If you can stomach thin characterization and the occasional soap-opera detour, it remains an engaging watch. But if Season 3 doesn’t course-correct, goodwill will dry up faster than an over-promised well. Seriously, I want this show to win; I want Landman Season 3 to prove the audience backlash wasn’t ignored. Please fix the family dynamics, sharpen the business storylines, and spread the narrative weight across more characters. Do that, and Landman could still earn a lasting spot in Taylor Sheridan’s catalog.
What do you think? Drop your takes in the comments below. Don’t hedge your bets; I’ll meet you there.
